In tears here

foxylocks · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

I had one of the original Roombas but a couple weeks ago I bought the Roomba 535 from HSN. I charged it for well over 16 hours before the first use. It only ran about 10 minutes and then it went and docked. The same thing happened the next 2 times I tried it. What am I doing wrong?

Fraggboy · Posted: June 11, 2008, 3:41 pm Post subject:

foxylocks,

Do you have any of the lighthouses close by the base? Can you tell us a little about your home? Where is the Roomba docked at, square footage, how many rooms, etc?? Also, when it was docking, what color was the clean button?

foxylocks · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

Thank you so much for replying Fraggboy.

The lighthouse is about 15 feet from the base. I'm in an apartment. Ruby's docked in the dining area for the time being which is about 10 x 15. The floor area in the kitchen is a walkway about 4 x 10. The way it's laid out the 2 rooms are like an L shape.

When docking the clean button is green. I only have one lighthouse right now which I set between the dining area and the living room. I just blocked off the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway with a small piece of furniture so I could try it out.

Oh, also, I bought new batteries for the lighthouse but when it's turned on there is no light. Should there be?

I became disabled due to an accident and so my son does the vacuuming with my upright. I wanted to order this because at times I feel like I'm such a burden on him. All 3 times that I tried it out I did it when he wasn't here because I was afraid that if it didn't work he'd get upset with me for buying it.

I have to tell you that before I bought it I did searches on it and found your forum. Reading a lot of the postings was the key to making my decision as I saw how knowledgeable, helpful and friendly you all were.

FrankyDog · Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 29

The lighthouse light(s) should be on when roomba turns on, but that won't make roomba dock sooner than it should.

Try holding down the round circle power button in the middle of roomba until you hear it make it's resetting chime. That will reset the roomba. I always do this anytime my 560 starts acting weird or isn't working properly.

It's basically like restarting your computer when it's running slowly or your getting error messages.

This could solve one or both of your problems.

fancyfreewv · Posted: June 11, 2008, 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: In tears here

foxylocks wrote: I had one of the original Roombas but a couple weeks ago I bought the Roomba 535 from HSN. I charged it for well over 16 hours before the first use. It only ran about 10 minutes and then it went and docked. The same thing happened the next 2 times I tried it. What am I doing wrong?

You could pick up the Home Base and also pick up the LH/VW for the time being. Then manually set it off and see if it cleans for about an hour.

If it successfully cleans, then you know it's not defective that way. Then try putting down the LH/VW (in VW mode to block) and still leave the Home Base up and see if it turns on and if the Roomba actually respects it. If it doesn't turn on check the batteries for position and freshness or put in different ones.

If that works okay, then add in the Home Base.

Remember that IRobot will replace and also HSN will replace within 30 days too. You could have a defective unit.

You didn't say the color of the button. Does it blink orange while charging and change to green when done? Any other indicators on or beeping?

If you are going to call either Irobot for support or HSN, you need to have as much information like this to tell them.

foxylocks · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

for your replies Franky and Fancy!

First I picked up the lighthouse and still had it in my hand when I picked up the home base. When I did that the lighthouse light came on which it never did before. So I put the lighthouse back down and set the home base up high. I then watched Ruby while having 2 cups of coffee. :roll: She started in the dining room and when she first got onto the kitchen floor I put the home base back down to see what would happen. She continued to run for 45 minutes and then she docked. Is that about right since my rooms are so small?

Fancy, when she docked this time the power light is blinking orange, the first 3 times I tried her out it was still blinking green when she docked. There were no indicators on or any beeping the first 3 times I tried her.

My son shampooed my dining room carpeting last weekend and all my other rooms are in disarray now as he is going to shampoo them this weekend. I don't know where he put the book that came with Ruby and I didn't want to ask because I didn't want him to know that I was having a problem. Since he works days and goes to school at night I don't want him trying to do everything during the week. Also, being in an apartment I'm afraid the noise might bother the neighbors.

I think my problems are solved. Now I need to get Ruby another lighthouse.

Thank you both so much for your help.

fancyfreewv · Posted: June 12, 2008, 4:33 am Post subject:

Glad she's working. I think once your rooms are reorganized again and you can find a bit more room for the LH and the home base so they don't interfere with each other, you will find it works fine.

The time you get on your battery will steadily increase as you get it charged and then discharge it by cleaning. After a few weeks the cells get topped off and equalized. That is what most of us have discovered.

Good luck. :D

foxylocks · Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

Thank you Nancy. I planned on putting it under one of the chairs in the living room so that it's not out in the open.

TooManyPets · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 36

If you need to look at a manual before you find yours, they are available on the iRobot website. Follow the links for Home Robots>Service and Support>Find Manuals. You can pick the manual you need and download a PDF copy.

fancyfreewv · Posted: June 12, 2008, 11:10 am Post subject:

foxylocks wrote: Thank you Nancy. I planned on putting it under one of the chairs in the living room so that it's not out in the open.

Be aware (i don't know what the chair looks like) that the beams angle outward from these items so don't block it except at the very backside.

You might want to look at this very good item that was written by an IRobot employee about the beams.

http://forums.irobot.com/irobothome/board/message?board.id=80&message.id=5075&jump=true

FunNut · Posted: June 14, 2008, 10:08 am Post subject:

From the perspective of another new Roomba owner, thanks for the link to the LH/VW article. It explains some of the "a little peculiar" behaviors of my Arr Tuu. I sometimes had been physically moving him from room to room and wondered why the LHs weren't working exactly right, and why he wasn't finding his homebase. I copied the info. in the article to my Robots page on my computer.

OP, I hope you now have Ruby performing correctly. Thanks for your questions.